


A World on Fire, People of Ash

by calliecaddie



Series: A Crumbling Universe [2]
Category: Daredevil (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:07:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23699773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calliecaddie/pseuds/calliecaddie
Summary: Matt Murdock was all too enthusiastic about restarting his local law firm with his old friends and returning to his own version of normal. But in a place that's both near and worlds away, a great battle has just ended. And his tiny corner of Hell's Kitchen is about to feel the fallout.
Series: A Crumbling Universe [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1705459
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	A World on Fire, People of Ash

Matt Murdoch felt the steam tickle the skin on his hand before Foggy put two coffee mugs down, one smelled strikingly black with caffeine while the other had a thick, sweet, creamy scent. He waved his hand over the table and reached for his black cup of coffee. He heard Foggy plop down on the chair across from him. Foggy’s hands were slick with hand sanitizer, but the smell of freshly sliced cold cuts still lingered on his clothes. Foggy was going to surprise him and Karen with free sandwiches from his family’s deli. Matt’s mouth was already watering at the prospect, but he wanted to let Foggy have his moment come lunchtime.

He sensed a nagging, curious finger being waved in his direction.

“You know, I still don’t quite get how you know which mug is yours,” Foggy chuckled. His voice was a bit echoey, but Matt could concentrate on it easily. “Your weird vision thing still kinda throws me off.”

Matt grinned, hardly remembering a time when talking with his old friend about being a vigilante nearly destroyed their relationship. It didn’t come up often, but he was happy to be able to discuss it more amicably than they used to. “I really don’t know how to explain it any better to you,” Matt replied as he took a sip. “But when it comes to our coffees, I can smell the difference. And the cream in yours makes it a little cooler. It’s half the reason why I take mine differently from yours.”

“Right, that whole ‘heightened senses’ thing. Except on steroids?”

“When you put it that way, yeah. On steroids.”

“Well, we’ll see if your heightened sense can predict my little surprise for the office at lunch!”

“Looking forward to it, Foggy,” Matt replied, trying to hide the knowing snark in his voice.

Matt heard the tinkling of a spoon as Foggy stirred in his cream. They were comforting smells and sounds, as if Nelson and Murdoch were actually running normally again. 

“Karen on her way with the bagels?” Matt asked.

“Yup. She texted that she was 10 minutes away and that was…” A rustle of cloth as Foggy checked his watch. “Oh! Seven minutes ago.”

“Great! I’m starving.”

“So,” Foggy sighed. “As soon as we open up for business again, can we please make sure that we get paid in more than baked goods this time? I gotta say, I got real used to the whole ‘having money to pay rent’ thing.” 

“Oh, I don’t know, Foggy. Who are we to turn down free food?” He thought of salami sandwiches. “We survived off the stuff in college and sorta saved some money in the long run. Besides, we’ll probably be drowning in bundt cakes after that alien visit yesterday.”

Foggy giggled derisively. “Damn. You’ve been doing the whole Daredevil gig for so long, I forgot how compelling of a lawyer you can be.”

“It’s good to be back, pal. Hey, mind cracking open a window?”

Matt heard the floorboards creak, the wood thunk as Foggy approached a window. He tsked as the window scraped against the frame and juttered open, a testament to their homey office’s old age. But it was the sound of home, a concept that was unfamiliar to Matt for quite some time.

Hell’s Kitchen revealed itself to Matt as the window was opened, its cacophonous harmony of angry voices, angrier cars, and a drumline of footsteps knocking on the sidewalk. When he was young, the sounds of the city kept him up. The clamor of every miniscule activity slammed against his head and rattled him to his bones. He’d since adjusted to it rather well. He could tune it out, almost find solace in it. No matter what good or bad was sowed throughout the streets, he knew that Hell’s Kitchen was alive. To him, it was the sound of the city’s own heartbeat. And now, he couldn’t sleep without it. 

“Good weather out there?” Matt asked, already feeling the sunlight warm his hand.

“Gorgeous,” Foggy beamed. “I think it’s gonna be a good day today.”

Matt’s ears burned as he heard high heels tap against the floor outside their office, their rhythm synced perfectly to Karen’s stride and gait. The sound of a paper bag heavy with bagels rustled in one hand, her leather bag creaking as it swung from the other. A hint of her usual perfume wafted up to his nostrils, and it grew stronger as she came up to the door.

Matt was already standing at the entrance to let her in. He opened the door for... 

“Good morning, Miss Page! Coffee?”

A sickly wind prickled at Matt’s skin. He cocked his head as he felt bags fall to the ground. There wasn’t anyone standing outside. No sound of heels striking the floor, no perfume filled the room, no trace of a new person in his widened peripheral. He heard the faint sound of dust drifting to the ground.

Matt was confused. He was sure that his senses weren’t playing tricks on him. He didn’t think they could. Karen was right outside. Her very self was unmistakably present. She had been there. But without any warning, any sign that something was amiss, she was gone. 

“Someone at the door, Matt?” Foggy asked as he came up to Matt from behind.

Matt stammered for an answer. He didn’t know what to tell him, still trying to process the occurrence for himself. “I… I thought Karen was--”

The wind blew again. A strange rumble of air as Foggy’s mug started to fall. Matt swung around and caught it by the handle with his cane. The remaining coffee splattered to the ground, the steam rising from the floor now. Foggy hadn’t dropped it, but it fell. He hadn’t left, but he was no longer with Matt. His cold cut scent had vanished, and he couldn’t sense any trace of it.

“Foggy...? Foggy!?” He huffed, his confusion spiraling into panic. Even if Karen weren’t outside, and Matt knew she had been, Foggy couldn’t have gone anywhere without him noticing. But he couldn’t see either of them. They weren’t taken, they hadn’t left. But they were nowhere.

Matt put the cane and cup on the table. He bent down to grab one of the bags at the door. Sure enough, he knew from touch it was Karen’s. He ran into the hallway. “Karen, are you there?” he yelled, his breathing becoming frantic. “Karen! Foggy, come on! Where are you guys!? Talk to me! Where--”

The only thing that answered back was a crash from the outside, the gushing of a fire hydrant broken by an empty, incoming car.

Matt stormed over to the open window, clutching the frame as if trying to steady his vision. Throughout the city, he heard cars screeching to a halt, people calling out names, and a grimly quieter sidewalk, the clatter of footsteps becoming as soft as a whisper.

“Help! Has someone seen my baby!?”

“Where’d you go, man? Where’d you go!?”

“Everyone, over here! Someone...what the--” 

Matt staggered backwards, the entire city echoing the same confused and terrified wails. He could almost tell what was happening, and the realization shook him unnervingly. Voices were blinking out along his block. People were being replaced by empty space. The people of Manhattan were disappearing.

Yet even with the chaos outside, he felt the city going silent. Going dark. The heartbeat of Hell’s Kitchen had come to a sudden and deathly halt. In the world of fire that he lived in, he felt ashes gathering at his feet.

“What the hell is happening?” Matt asked, though no one was around him who could answer. “Where did everybody go…?”


End file.
